Daddy Daughter Pinewood Derby

A wiseman once said "A father carries pictures where his money use to be."  Never truer than in the Pennington Household with 4 expensive daughters.  So here are a few more pictures I am sure will end up in Steven Pennington's Wallet. 
Steve and Grace went to the Daddy Daughter Pinewood Derby this week and won 3rd place.  It sounded like a great night.  They were handed a kit and were given 30 minutes to create a car.  Their car did great!  She sure loves doing stuff with her dad!  Steve will be so sad when the Daddy Daughter Dates end.  He really looks forward to them.

Way to Represent Team Pennington

Of course the car was blue.... Grace loves the color Blue.

Easter 2011

The sun finally decided to shine here in the NORTH!  YAH!  We hit a high of 50 and thought we might die of heat stroke!  It was a nice change from the cold rain and snow we had this last week.  We had stake conference this morning and Steve is feeling Liberated this afternoon.  It was a great conference!
We finished the day with our friends the Monsons and a lovely dinner and Easter egg hunt and then a family movie of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  Great day!  Great Company!  But we missed our kids that are in Logan and California (Lauren is at David's).  I am so grateful for all the Savior has done for me and what a great day to reflect on his life and the love he has for his children.

YES - That is Derek my son in a picture and only mildly naughty!

My cute girls

Hunting eggs.  The grass was so wet it kinda looked like the Easter Bunny just threw the eggs around the yard.

All the egg hunters - Caia, Grace, Payton & Elyse  - We are so glad they come over so Grace has company hunting for eggs.

Mom P & Dad P

Enjoying their weekend in California - I told them to take an Easter picture but they didn't obey - I guess I'll have to tell Aunt Shannon - she'll take care of that problem.  haha

SKYPE - You're never far from the ones you love

I once read an article   "Why first borns want to rule the world and last borns want to change it".   This was when my children were very young and I did not understand it completely until last night.

As the children get older and older they want to do less and less of the old traditions.  Not all, just things like carving pumpkins and coloring easter eggs.  That is all but Grace, who of course is only 9 and still loves to do all those things.   She is having a very different "Family" experience than Jackie.  With that said ......  She knew no one was very excited to color eggs.  So she texted the one person who she KNEW would come through for her and of course that is LAUREN. (who loves all things that have to do with family traditions, family time or family anything.) They made a plan to skype while we were coloring easter eggs.  So when the time came for family night and coloring the easter eggs out came the computer and before you even knew it was happening there was Lauren and David right in our kitchen.  I love technology!  Who said technology was tearing the family apart.  Not ours!  We could have been a commercial for the church....... Family, isn't it about time.

Look at her having a good tiime!

Moscow and Provo -Distance means so little when technology is around

Showing the masterpiece

1 mother + 1 daughter = 2 best friends

Time really flies doesn't it!  I have really been reflective lately.  I don't know if it is because:


Jackie just sewed her first easter dress for her daughter,
Lauren is not coming home until after Spring semester
Derek is about to start his last year at home
Savannah just painted her room and it no longer looks like Lauren's room
Grace is finishing 4th grade and that was the grade Jackie started here at McDonald School

It just seems like life is on Fast Forward!!!  SLOW DOWN!  Below is Case in Point!

some weeks

I am the Primary Chorister and have been for a few years and it is my favorite calling of all time. Yes surprisingly I love it even more than YW. We have so much fun, the kids are the greatest and make me laugh everyweek. If you ever want to feel the spirit during church, just go to primary. These children really are Saturday's Warriors! I taught this song to the primary today and I LOVE IT! We talked about what poison does to your body and compared that to sin to your soul. Then talked about the atonement and what an incredible sacrifice the Savior gave to us. I thought it might be a little intense for the Jr. Primary but they were so sweet and at the end one of the little guys in the 5 year old class said "Jesus really loves us huh." YES! YES he does!

Our Little Einstein

Grace and her friend Mckenna entered the Science fair this year and got a blue ribbon.  They did a project on which flavor of gum lasts the longest.  Their results were Trident Vitality with a time of 5:10.  Steve and I loved looking at all the projects.  Steve's favorite was "Will my dog drink more water after a long walk" project.   Shockingly the results were YES! HA  My favorite was a project by 2 boys "Will you make a higher percentage of your basketball shots with One eye open or Two eyes open."  You will never guess how that one turned out! HA  I love kids!  Grace's project got very high marks. The judges LOVED their use of gum wrappers all over their poster.  Good Job Einstein!

Grace and Mckenna in front of their project

The snow has finally melted and the weather is above 32 degrees! YAH!  That means it is springtime in Idaho.   So we played some basketball in the driveway for Family Night.  We are all a little competitive but luckily no one got hurt and no one left crying.  That must mean everyone is growing up.  (or Lauren is gone! ha)  Sometimes I am sad at how small my family, living at home,  has become.  Derek will be a senior next year and then we will be down to 2 kids at home.  :(  The only good thing about everyone growing up is they get married and have children!  I LOVE having grandbabies!

Grace starting off a game of bump

funny how the game of bump always ended up with Steve against Derek

Sav making a shot while playing Horse - which ended up being Pig because it was lasting sooosooo long!

A Picture is worth a Thousand words . . . . .

Oops . . I meant a thousand pictures.
The girls and I spent our spring break out in Utah visiting LAUREN (I had to put her name in all caps so she could see it.  She says she  never makes the blog) and of course my sisters.  We were lucky enough to talk Jackie into bringing the babies to meet some of their Great Grandparents.  My mom and Papa Joe also made the trip out, even though they had to travel through a snow storm to do it.  So we made a party of it.  It always goes so fast and I am always so sad to leave everyone.  We had such a great time.  We met Lauren's boyfriend David (Yep, she has narrowed it down to one boy), Mindy's boyfriend Trevor, went to jump on it, provo beach resort, movies, ate out, swam in the hotel pool and loved on the babies.   It was a great week!  We missed our boys but they were busy at the NCAA Basketball tournament in Denver.  This is their 5th year going to the 2nd & 3rd rounds.   From what I was told you can never see enough basketball.  BYU was there and won their way to the Sweet Sixteen which was the highlight of their trip. 

NCAA Tournament

This is what you do on the off day - Watch more Basketball in your hotel room.

Papa Joe and the little squirts

Grandma Marlene playing bingo with all the kids

They LOVE bingo.  Grandma gets the greatest prizes

Jack and the cute little grandchildren- They are the best little guys!  We drug them all over!

Ivy loved the babies! HA

We are a family of Goof balls!

Lauren and David (can you tell - she is smitten)

Lauren and Addison

Shae, Sav and Sarah Livin it up  at Jump on it!

Tricks from Boston, Grace and Charlee

Boston and Sav P. lookin' good and havin' a good time!

Grand Kids

Jackie and Justin are having their spring break this week and we LOVE having them home!  They of course bring the babies.  We love these little guys.  They are doing so well.  They laugh, giggle and talk and even roll over now.  They are right on track for their adjusted age.  AMAZING!  they are both almost 12lbs and sleep all night.  They are little miracles and love watching them grow up!

They are getting so big!

Weston

Addison

Idaho State Basketball Tournament

We had a great time in Boise this weekend for the 4A State Basketball Tournament.  Derek and his team ended up playing for 3rd and lost in double overtime 49-51.  Yes it was a very stressful game.  Jackie and the babies came to help Cheer on the bears and that was so fun!  We love having those grandbabies around.  They are so good!  Steve and I even found time to get to the temple.  Savannah and Grace got to go shopping and swimming so it was a win for everyone!  We are already looking forward to next year - we have 5 juniors who will be returning and have a lot of experience and we are planning on winning the state title! GO BEARS!

We love these little guys!  They are laughing and talking so much!

Dressed and Ready for the Game!  Jackie is so cute she had something black and red for them to wear to all 3 games!

Derek Stealing the ball

3 point shot!

It's kinda sad that the season is over!  He has been playing with these seniors for a few years now and they are the nicest bunch of kids!  We will miss them!

Groundhog=Liar

Dear Mr. Groundhog,
Do you know where liars go?
Love,
Mom P

Okay I love the snow but enough is enough! We have been pounded with snow for 2 weeks EVERYDAY! And we have only been able to ski - Once! Hopefully when we get back from the State playoffs (that is if we can get there!) We can enjoy the snow the way it was meant to be enjoyed - At a ski resort!   And YES those are my christmas lights - I need the snow to melt before I can take them down!